Category Archives: Lower Willamette

The Mighty October Caddis: Tips and Tricks for our Favorite Fall Hatch

Many of us wait with great anticipation for fall weather. The fall colors, a break from the heat and smoke, salmon, mushrooms, bird season, cooler weather, but most importantly the October Caddis. This is an especially difficult time of year … Continue reading

Posted in Central Oregon Fishing Report, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing, Oregon Fly Fishing Tips, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Willow Harvest & Fishing at Green Island: Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025

In partnership with McKenzie River Trust, Our local Trout Unlimited Chapter, Redsides will be volunteering at the special Green Island property on Saturday, Nov. 15th. Following the work, the property will remain open until 4 pm for exclusive fishing access to the Willamette … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Oregon Conservation News, Oregon Fly Fishing Clubs and Events | Leave a comment

The Mystery of Coho Salmon in the McKenzie River

by: Native Fish Society McKenzie River Steward Dave Thomas You are likely aware of recent reports of Coho salmon in our beloved McKenzie.  Generally, we think of the McKenzie as a sanctuary for Spring Chinook salmon and indeed this run is … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Oregon Conservation News, Oregon Salmon fly fishing, Oregon Saltwater Fishing | 2 Comments

Early July Fishing Report

Our local water in the valley is fishing very well. Summer fishing on the Willamette and Mckenzie is in full swing and the bugs are here. Summer continues to chug on, but we aren’t feeling the negative effects of the … Continue reading

Posted in Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing, Oregon Fly Fishing Tips, Oregon Weekend Fishing Forecast, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jigged Grannom Caddis Pupa: Jigged Nymph/Soft Hackle Tutorial

In this video, Simon ties an extremely effective jigged caddis pupa for fishing the Mother’s Day or Grannom Caddis hatch. This hatch can be frustrating with lots of emerged adults on the water, and very few fish rising. This is … Continue reading

Posted in Fly Tying, Fly Tying Materials and Supplies, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing, Proven Spring Fly Patterns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mastering the Mother’s Day Grannom Caddis Hatch

The Grannom or Mother’s Day Caddis is a long awaited hatch all over the country. This hatch of small salt and pepper colored Caddisflies marks the turn of seasons. The abundance of adults fluttering around and in stream side vegetation … Continue reading

Posted in Classes and Instruction, Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing, Oregon Fly Fishing Tips, Proven Spring Fly Patterns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

May Community Fly Fishing & Tying Night

Everyone’s favorite night of the month is coming up next week. Community Fly Fishing & Tying Night is coming up next week at Falling Sky Brewing at 6:30! We’ve been having a great turnout and have seen lots of new … Continue reading

Posted in Fly Tying, Fly Tying Materials and Supplies, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jigged March Brown Nymph Tutorial

In this video, Simon ties a fantastic Jigged March Brown Nymph. March Browns are in the clinger family of mayflies. They have adapted a streamlined, low profile body over millions of years. They inhabit the fastest currents in the river, … Continue reading

Posted in Fly Tying, Fly Tying Materials and Supplies, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing, NW Fly Tyer & Fly Fishing Expo | Leave a comment

April Fly Tying & Community Night at Falling Sky

Next Tuesday is the long awaited monthly community night over at Falling Sky. We did a fly swap last month where everyone who wanted to participate tossed one fly in the bucket and grabbed a raffle ticket. As numbers are … Continue reading

Posted in Fly Tying, Fly Tying Materials and Supplies, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Collection of March Brown Tying Tutorials

Over the years, we have tied countless March Browns on the blog and YouTube for all of you guys. Below is a fully exhaustive list of all of the March Brown tutorials that we have tied to date. The videos … Continue reading

Posted in Fly Tying, Fly Tying Materials and Supplies, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Long Awaited Early Spring Fishing Report

This Spring especially has been a finicky one for all of the things out of our control. Torrential downpours, low elevation snow melt, surprise flow changes out of our dams, spurts of hot weather, etc. have thrown not only us … Continue reading

Posted in Fishing Porn, Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing, Oregon Fly Fishing Tips, Proven Spring Fly Patterns | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hackle Stacker March Brown Emerger Tutorial

In this video, Simon ties a fantastic March Brown emerger. He uses a hackle method called “hackle-stacking” to create a low-riding emerger that is suggestive of a struggling insect. This method creates a cleaner look than vertically palming a saddle … Continue reading

Posted in Central Oregon Fishing Report, Fly Tying, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing, Proven Spring Fly Patterns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

March Brown Hare’s Ear Wet

In this video, Simon ties a fantastic March Brown wet fly. It utilizes one of the new hooks in a new line of hooks from our friends over at Ahrex. The Legacy line of hooks is a throwback to a … Continue reading

Posted in Fly Tying, Fly Tying Materials and Supplies, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Support New Instream Water Rights in the South Willamette Basin

Comments Due by 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16th From WaterWatch of Oregon: Last spring the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced it had applied for over 260 new instream water rights in the Willamette River system to protect instream flows for … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing, Oregon Conservation News, Oregon fly fishing links | Leave a comment

Simon’s Jigged Tailwater Leech

This fly Simon originally developed for a trip to the mighty McCloud river in Northern California. The section he was interested in is a tailwater, and Simon needed a small fly that would be enticing enough for a large fish … Continue reading

Posted in Fly Tying Materials and Supplies, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Oregon High Lakes, Stillwater Fishing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment